--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Designing a dream city is easy…" description: "\"Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination.\" — Jane Jacobs" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_designing-a-dream-city-is-easy-rebuildin_2150825.png" --- # Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one… ![“Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination.” quote by Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_designing-a-dream-city-is-easy-rebuildin_2150825.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_designing-a-dream-city-is-easy-rebuildin_2150825.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_designing-a-dream-city-is-easy-rebuildin_2150825.png) > “Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination.” [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating an ideal city on paper is simple, but transforming an existing urban environment requires creative problem‑solving and community insight. **In simple terms:** Designing a city is easy; rebuilding one needs imagination. Key Takeaway Embrace creativity when improving real cities. Themes urban planning community creativity imagination redevelopment Mood hopeful determined reflective Type advice inspirational practical When to use this quote - neighborhood revitalization - infrastructure upgrades - public space redesign - housing policy Key Concepts systems thinking participatory design social equity Questions to Reflect On - How can you involve residents in redesigning their neighborhood? - What creative solutions address legacy infrastructure challenges? A Different Perspective Ideal plans often ignore existing constraints and stakeholder conflicts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Rebuilding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rebuilding/) ## Related quotes > [When I left the work world, I started designing my dream house. I dived into architecture and bought seven vacant lots. My plan was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-anderson/when-i-left-the-work-world-i-started-designing-my-dream-house-i-dived/) [Tom Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-anderson/) > [“It's so hard to think about designing our dream home when all l wanna do is lay you out like a blueprint & bring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-tyrone-jones/it-s-so-hard-to-think-about-designing-our-dream-home-when-all-l-wanna/) [Curtis Tyrone Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-tyrone-jones/) > [New York is, like, my dream city.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-bean-cobain/new-york-is-like-my-dream-city/) [Frances Bean Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-bean-cobain/) > [It takes as much imagination to create debt as to create income.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-orr/it-takes-as-much-imagination-to-create-debt-as-to-create-income/) [Leonard Orr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-orr/) > [It takes no imagination to live within your means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-ford-coppola/it-takes-no-imagination-to-live-within-your-means/) [Francis Ford Coppola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-ford-coppola/) > [It is the form the idea takes in the imagination rather than the form as it exists outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-dove/it-is-the-form-the-idea-takes-in-the-imagination-rather-than-the-form/) [Arthur Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-dove/) > [Compassion takes imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-beals/compassion-takes-imagination/) [Jennifer Beals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-beals/) > [“When I was quite small I would sometimes dream of a city - which was strange, because it began before I even knew what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/when-i-was-quite-small-i-would-sometimes-dream-of-a-city-which-was/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [“Las Vegas has become a child's picture-book dream of a city-here a storybook castle, there a sphinx-flanked black pyramid beaming white light into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/las-vegas-has-become-a-child-s-picture-book-dream-of-a-city-here-a-2/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [My dream in a City shirt is to win titles, to be happy, and to make all Manchester City's fans happy, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-jesus/my-dream-in-a-city-shirt-is-to-win-titles-to-be-happy-and-to-make-all/) [Gabriel Jesus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-jesus/) > [Fighting Cung Le in San Jose is an absolute dream not only for myself but for the city.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-shamrock/fighting-cung-le-in-san-jose-is-an-absolute-dream-not-only-for-myself/) [Frank Shamrock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-shamrock/) > [Las Vegas has become a child's picture-book dream of a city -- here a storybook castle, there a sphinx-flanked black pyramid beaming white light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/las-vegas-has-become-a-child-s-picture-book-dream-of-a-city-here-a/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Nothing is impossible. With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-phelps/nothing-is-impossible-with-so-many-people-saying-it-couldn-t-be-done/) [Michael Phelps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-phelps/) > [Be bored and see where it takes you, because the imagination's dusty wilderness is worth crossing if you want to sculpt your soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/be-bored-and-see-where-it-takes-you-because-the-imagination-s-dusty/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) > [It takes too much imagination to see the sorrows of people we take for happy. Their real battles take place, like those of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/it-takes-too-much-imagination-to-see-the-sorrows-of-people-we-take/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) ## More by Jane Jacobs > [People who try to predict the future by extrapolating in a line of more of what exists - they are always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/people-who-try-to-predict-the-future-by-extrapolating-in-a-line-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [My mother used to say when we were children, 'When a boy gets a stick in his hand, his brains run out the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/my-mother-used-to-say-when-we-were-children-when-a-boy-gets-a-stick/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Design is people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/design-is-people/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/to-approach-a-city-or-even-a-city-neighborhood-as-if-it-were-a-larger/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them… for really new ideas of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/cities-need-old-buildings-so-badly-it-is-probably-impossible-for/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [The notion that you could discard the old world and now make a new one. This is what was so bad about Modernism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/the-notion-that-you-could-discard-the-old-world-and-now-make-a-new/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Cities are an immense laboratory of trial and error, failure and success, in city building and city design.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/cities-are-an-immense-laboratory-of-trial-and-error-failure-and/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Development isn't a collection of things but rather a process that yields things. Not knowing this, governments, their development and aid agencies, the World…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/development-isn-t-a-collection-of-things-but-rather-a-process-that/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Most sentimental ideas imply, at bottom, a deep if unacknowledged disrespect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/most-sentimental-ideas-imply-at-bottom-a-deep-if-unacknowledged/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Beneficent spirals, operating by benign feedback, mean that everything needful is not required at once: each individual improvement is beneficial for the whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/beneficent-spirals-operating-by-benign-feedback-mean-that-everything/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as the villains responsible for the ills of cities and the disappointments and futilities of city planning. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagged-as-the-villains-responsible/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“I tis hopeless to try to convert some borders into seams. Expressways and their ramps are examples. Moreover, even in the case of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/i-tis-hopeless-to-try-to-convert-some-borders-into-seams-expressways/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Probably the most important element in intricacy is centering. Good small parks typically have a place somewhere within them commonly understood to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/probably-the-most-important-element-in-intricacy-is-centering-good/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Throughout the world Dark Ages have scrawled finis to successions of cultures receding far into the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/throughout-the-world-dark-ages-have-scrawled-finis-to-successions-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Privacy is precious in cities. It is indispensable. Perhaps it is precious and indispensable everywhere, but in most places you cannot get it. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/privacy-is-precious-in-cities-it-is-indispensable-perhaps-it-is/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) [Explore all 193 Jane Jacobs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## More Cities quotes > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [Surely, if Mother Nature had been consulted, she would never have consented to building a city in New Orleans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-zuckerman/surely-if-mother-nature-had-been-consulted-she-would-never-have/) [Mortimer Zuckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-zuckerman/) > [Cities are 2% of the earth's crust, but they are 50% of the world's population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-ratti/cities-are-2-of-the-earth-s-crust-but-they-are-50-of-the-world-s/) [Carlo Ratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-ratti/) > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All Germany was in turmoil. Revolutionaries seized power in the cities of Munich, Hanover and Cologne. One regional German government after another was toppled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cross-giblin/all-germany-was-in-turmoil-revolutionaries-seized-power-in-the-cities/) James Cross Giblin > [Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-modiano/nice-is-a-city-of-ghosts-and-specters-but-i-hope-not-to-become-one-of/) [Patrick Modiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-modiano/) > [I know of not one Republican candidate that would not appear publicly with Mitt Romney and I know many Democrats that don't even want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sessions/i-know-of-not-one-republican-candidate-that-would-not-appear-publicly/) [Pete Sessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-sessions/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [We will neglect our cities to our peril, for in neglecting them we neglect the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/we-will-neglect-our-cities-to-our-peril-for-in-neglecting-them-we/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [I didn't know the city at all, but I was so happy to be in New York I cried. I was so excited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-gerwig/i-didn-t-know-the-city-at-all-but-i-was-so-happy-to-be-in-new-york-i/) [Greta Gerwig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-gerwig/) > [Outside of Paris, there is no hope for the cultured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/outside-of-paris-there-is-no-hope-for-the-cultured/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Vienna is a handsome, lively city, and pleases me exceedingly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-chopin/vienna-is-a-handsome-lively-city-and-pleases-me-exceedingly/) [Frederic Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-chopin/) > [“We have grace of strength to work, to clear our cities of any dirt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-have-grace-of-strength-to-work-to-clear-our-cities-of-any-dirt/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I was too tired to think. I merely felt the town as a unique unreality. What was it? I knew -- the moon's picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-too-tired-to-think-i-merely-felt-the-town-as-a-unique-unreality/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 7,153 Cities quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Jacobs" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/designing-a-dream-city-is-easy-rebuilding-a-living-one-takes/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cities" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/designing-a-dream-city-is-easy-rebuilding-a-living-one-takes/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_designing-a-dream-city-is-easy-rebuildin_2150825.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_designing-a-dream-city-is-easy-rebuildin_2150825.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/526/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_designing-a-dream-city-is-easy-rebuildin_2150825.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination.” — Jane Jacobs", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jane Jacobs", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Designing a dream city is easy;...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/designing-a-dream-city-is-easy-rebuilding-a-living-one-takes/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/designing-a-dream-city-is-easy-rebuilding-a-living-one-takes/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```